World football's most powerful man will call a FIFA congress to vote on his replacement... just days after being re-elected

Sepp Blatter will step down as FIFA president amid the corruption scandal that has rocked world football.

The Swiss revealed at a press conference in Zurich on Tuesday afternoon that he would call an extraordinary congress to vote in his replacement with a need for "profound restructuring" of FIFA.

"I have thoroughly considered my presidency and about the last 40 years in my life, these years were closely related to FIFA," said Blatter.

"I only want to do the best for football. The elections are closed but the challenges we are facing have not.

"FIFA needs profound restructuring.

"I will call an extraordinary congress ... to elect a new president"

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When the press conference had been abruptly called on Tuesday afternoon, the expectation was that general secretary Jerome Valcke may resign.

A key Blatter ally, Valcke had found himself under huge pressure to step down over his suspected of involvement in a US$10million payment central to the FBI's bribery investigation.

But after FIFA had finally denied his involvement on Tuesday morning, instead , a letter has emerged - addressed to Mr Valcke - confirming the payment.

Valcke has previously told the New York Times that he had NOT authorised the payment and didn't have the power to do so.

FIFA reacted to the letter insisting the finance committee made the final approval.

A FIFA spokesperson said via email: "The letter is consistent to our statement where we underlined that the FIFA Finance Committee made the final approval.

"In general, the FIFA Secretary General is the recipient of all letters and requests to the administration and acts in accordance with FIFA's regulations.

"We would like to reiterate that neither the Secretary General Jerome Valcke nor any other member of FIFA's senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation of the Diaspora project."

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However, FIFA eventually decided that Valcke's position had become untenable and he stepped down from his role.

Earlier on Tuesday, FIFA had said that Julio Grondona, the former finance chief of the organisation and a long-time ally of president Sepp Blatter, was the person who authorised a

Grondona, from Argentina, died last year aged 82 having been a FIFA executive member for 26 years, many of them as chairman of the finance committee. Blatter described him as "a lifelong friend" after his death.

A US justice department indictment of 18 people charged last week over football-related corruption says in 2008 a $US10million bribe was paid to former FIFA members Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer from FIFA's Swiss bank account to an American account controlled by Warner.

The New York Times has reported that federal authorities believe it was FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke who caused the payment to be made. He has denied that to the newspaper and FIFA say it was Grondona who authorised the payments.

Grondona has long been a controversial figure in Argentina, and his death was not lamented by national favourite Diego Maradona.

Grondona and Maradona fought out a feisty war of words until the day of the former FIFA Vice President's death, with El Diego furious about the way he left his post as Argentina coach in 2010.

And when asked about that feud, Maradona shocked onlookers by signalling to the skies and muttering "thank God they took him away."

FIFA's head of media Delia Fischer, responding to Press Association Sport when asked about Grondona's role in the South Africa payment, said: "US$10m was authorised by the then chairman of the Finance Committee and executed in accordance with the Organisation Regulations. Payments of this level require the approval of the FIFA Finance Committee."

It is not known whether Blatter would also have had to sign off such a large sum.

The US indictment says the bribe was in return for Warner and Blazer voting for the 2010 World Cup to be played in South Africa.

The indictment states: "On January 2, 2008, January 31, 2008 and March 7, 2008, a high-ranking FIFA official caused payments of US$616,000, US$1,600,000, and US$7,784,000 - totalling US$10 million - to be wired from a FIFA account in Switzerland to a Bank of America correspondent account in New York, New York, for credit to accounts held in the names of CFU and CONCACAF, but controlled by the defendant Jack Warner."